1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to terminal apparatuses such as cellular phones equipped with the GPS (Global Positioning System.) and positional information communication method using it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with miniaturization of GPS, cellular phones with the GPS have been being developed in recent years. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Heisi 10-341476 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Heisi 10-304429 describe examples of cellular phones where GPS allows the cellular phone users to determine and display the current location superimposed on the map data in the display unit of a cellular phone.
Cellular phones are used relatively frequently, e.g., when a meeting is arranged and the place for the meeting needs to be confirmed. When you cannot find the person you are supposed to meet with at the place of meeting, you often use the cellular phone to call and ask the person you wait where he currently is. In such case, it would be convenient to have the person know the current location of yours together with a map data.
However, map data generally is large in terms of the data volume depending on the reduction scale and the nature of the map; thus it takes time for transmission and is not suitable for transmission/reception by cellular phones.
The present invention is made in view of the case described above, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal apparatus which enables to communicate one""s current location on a map to the party on the other end of the cellular phone line with a little amount of data transmitted. Moreover, another purpose of the invention is to provide a portable terminal apparatus with which a certain location on a map not limited only to the current location can be communicated to the other party.
The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a portable terminal apparatus of the present invention. The portable terminal apparatus is provided with: a positional information acquiring device for acquiring positional information; a transmitting device for transmitting the acquired positional information to other portable terminal apparatuses; a receiving device for receiving the positional information transmitted from other portable terminal apparatuses; a map data acquiring device for acquiring the map data in a predetermined range including the location shown by the received positional information; and a displaying device for displaying the map data together with a mark that indicates the position shown by the received positional information.
According to the present invention, the positional information acquired by a portable terminal apparatus can be sent to another portable terminal apparatus. The portable terminal apparatus on the reception side which receives the positional information displays the map data in a predetermined range based on the received positional information with a mark to indicate the location. Therefore, a specific location such as the location of the portable terminal apparatus can be displayed in other portable terminal apparatuses together with the map data. Also, the time and cost required for communication would be minimal as the information transmitted is the positional information only.
In one aspect of the present invention, the positional information acquiring device includes a GPS apparatus which obtains positional information of the portable terminal apparatus based on a wave from a satellite.
According to this aspect, the current location of a portable terminal apparatus can be transmitted to other portable apparatuses.
In another aspect of the present invention, the positional information acquiring device includes a positional information input unit used by a user to enter the positional information.
According to this aspect, the positional information a user entered can be transmitted to other portable terminal apparatuses and be displayed with the map data.
In another aspect of the present invention, the portable terminal apparatus is provided as a cellular phone set. In addition, the transmitting device is provide with a transmission instruction input unit for a user to enter transmission instructions during a call and a transmission unit to transmit the positional information when the transmission instruction is entered.
According to this aspect, a user can transmit the positional information during a regular phone call.
In another aspect of the present invention, the portable terminal apparatus is provided as a cellular phone set. In addition, the transmitting device is provided with an attaching device to attach the positional information to a message to be transmitted to other cellular phones and a transmission unit to transmit the positional information together with the message.
According to this aspect, the positional information can be sent utilizing the email function of cellular phones.
In another aspect of the present invention, the map data acquiring device is provided with a map data storing device that stores acquired map data and a map data acquiring device for acquiring map data in a predetermined range from the map data storing device based on the positional information.
According to this aspect, a positional mark can be displayed on the map data previously stored in the map data storing device.
In another aspect of the present invention, the map data storing device is a memory removable to the portable terminal apparatus.
According to this aspect, users can mount and make use of the memory that stores map data of the appropriate areas.
In another aspect of the present invention, the map data acquiring device comprises a transmitting device for transmitting the positional information to the site that provides map data via the internet and an acquiring device for acquiring map data in a predetermined range from the site that provides the map information.
According to this aspect, the positional information can be displayed on the map data even when the map data is not stored in the portable terminal apparatus.
The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a information communication method for communicating positional information between a portable terminal apparatus equipped with a GPS apparatus on a transmission side and another portable terminal apparatus on a reception side in accordance with the present invention. The method is provided with the processes of: acquiring positional information that shows the current location of the portable terminal apparatus using the GPS apparatus; transmitting the positional information to the terminal apparatus on the reception side from the terminal apparatus on the transmission side; receiving the positional information in the terminal apparatus on the reception side; acquiring map data in a predetermined range including the location shown by the positional information; and displaying the map data acquired together with a mark that indicates the location shown by the positional information.
According to the present invention, the current location of the portable terminal apparatus on the transmission side acquired by using the GPS is sent to the portable terminal apparatus on the reception side and is displayed with positional mark superimposed on the map data.